Man on trial 10 years after attack on former offices of Charlie Hebdo

The scene of an attack on two people outside the former offices Charlie Hebdo, 25 September 2020. Zaheer Mahmood, who said he was angered by the magazine's reprinting of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed and attacked the people thinking they were Charlie Hebdo employees, goes on trial Monday for attempted terrorist murder and conspiracy.

Ten years after the 2015 terrorist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, the trial of the man who was behind an attack outside the magazine's former offices in 2020 opened at a special juvenile court in Paris Monday.

Zaheer Mahmood thought he was attacking Charlie Hebdo employees, unaware that the magazine had moved after the 2015 attack.

Accused of attempted terrorist murder and conspiracy for his wounding of two people with a eat cleaver, Mahmood goes on trial Monday, along with five relatives who are suspected accomplices.

The trial is being held by a special juvenile court as three of the defendants were minors at the time of the attack, on 25 September 2020, in the midst of the trial for the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks.

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The magazine, which had reprinted the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed cartoons, which had made it a target for jihadists on 2 September, the opening day of the trial, had been receiving threats.

The day of the attack, Mahmood arrived in front of the building in Paris’ 11th district where the magazine used to have its offices.

Thinking he was attacking Charlie Hebdo employees, he struck two people outside with a meat cleaver, seriously injuring them.

(with AFP)


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